"In 1980, when I went out to Micronesia, I used to strap my guitar over my back and go village to village. That’s how I’d meet people. I’d start singing. I was known as the traveling troubadour."

- Bill Raynor

Over the last two decades, community-based marine conservation emerged as a powerfully effective way to protect and restore marine areas across the Pacific. The Nature Conservancy interviewed leaders at the forefront of this movement to capture some of their tacit institutional knowledge—knowledge that led to many advances in the field and that we believe will help others save time, avoid costly setbacks, and achieve better overall conservation results. We are sharing this collective wisdom with colleagues, partners and networks for whom we believe the information is particularly relevant. We hope it will be used and expanded upon, and that it inspires new champions and broader commitments to actively share knowledge within and across teams and networks.

This project is dedicated to the memory of Bill Raynor—beloved conservation leader, innovator, partner, mentor, colleague, and friend. As founder and visionary of The Nature Conservancy’s Micronesia Program, Bill inspired and nurtured three generations of conservation professionals, programs, and institutions across the Pacific and helped launch a community-based conservation movement around the world. His legacy lives on in the people and places that he cared for so well. Bill’s spirit is captured throughout this work, though he passed too early to capture his words.

It is also dedicated to the global community of local leaders and conservation partners, who work together to ensure that the extraordinary richness and beauty of our oceans will continue to be a gift to future generations.